The Happiest Place on Earth...if you like weird stuff...
DragonCon is a convention dedicated to popular culture held in Atlanta, GA every year over Labor Day weekend. While steamy Atlanta in early September isn't always that pleasant as a destination, no other convention can beat DragonCon's content. Not ComicCon. Not WorldCon. Not nobody. If you like science fiction/fantasy books, movies, television, and games, you owe yourself at least one trip to DragonCon. We've been many times before, and this year was the best time we ever had.
We arrived early this year because last year's registration process was an absolute nightmare. This year was a dream by comparison. We were excited by Susan's fortune cookie on our first night in town.
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| Your hard work is about to pay off. |
We stayed in the Westin, which hosted the Alt. History track, but wasn't in the Hyatt/Marriott/Hilton interconnected hive of activity. It was nice to be out of the beaten path, but also bummed to be cut off from the heart of the con.
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| Susan on Plotting panel |
We participated in a number of panels on several tracks -- Writing, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Alternate History, Young Adult. They were all great, and we loved meeting our fellow panelists as well as fans afterward.
There were two central themes to this DragonCon for us. One was hanging out at the Pyr Books booth, participating in autographings, meeting fans, selling books (both ours and others), and working with the Pyr editorial/marketing folks: Lou Anders. Rene Sears. Jill Maxick. Lynn Pasquale. Gabrielle Harbowy, and other Pyr authors: Jon Sprunk. Andrew Mayer. Ari Marmell. Erin Hoffman. Sam Sykes. James Enge (we didn't get a photo of James!). We've said it several times, but being a part of Pyr is like being a part of a family. We truly love all those guys, and respect their work. Creatively, it's like being in the legendary Marvel Comics bullpen in the 1960s. All these fiercely creative and smart people working hard to build their own titles, as well as the Pyr brand. It's really amazing, and amazingly fun.
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Jill Maxick, Lou Anders, Lynn Pasquale
Pyr braintrust |
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Lou Anders, Rene Sears
Mirror Mirror takeover? |
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| Ari Marmell, Andrew Mayer |
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| Erin Hoffman, Jon Sprunk |
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| Sam Sykes, Lou Anders (stylin') |
The other significant theme was our event with James Marsters. Regular readers of our blog will know that James Marsters (best known as Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer) will be voicing the audio version of The Greyfriar, and the entire Vampire Empire trilogy. On Sunday night, we appeared with James at a ticketed event where he read the first chapter of The Greyfriar. Then we all participated in a Q & A. The questions were excellent, focused on the writing process and the world of Vampire Empire. James was a genuinely nice man, and also completely invested in the project. He was totally conversant on characters and plot. Sitting there hearing him read those words we have lived with for so long was a surreal experience. He was fantastic.
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| Clay (too serious), James Marsters (so good), Susan (in coma of joy) |
Oh, okay, there was a third theme. Enjoying the party. Our editor, Lou Anders, loves to hang out and drink beer and talk books. He also loves to surround himself with his writers, and other writers. He likes writers, and that's a great thing for an editor. We spent every night dining and drinking and watching the incredible show that is DragonCon After Dark. The cavernous lobby of the Marriott Marquis is like another world.
We'll write and show more of that world in another post soon.
When it's over, you're exhausted and ready for a little reality. But after a day or two, you start thinking about DragonCon next year.
